This is so bizarre, the CEO over Overstock.com is writing himself into the Russia story and using the company. TPM:

Why Is The Overstock.com CEO Writing Himself Into The Trump-Russia Story?
By Josh Kovensky August 14, 2019 5:24 pm
The CEO of Overstock.com wants the public to know he’s a big part of the Trump-Russia story.

According to a press bulletin issued by the publicly traded firm after Monday trading hours, CEO Patrick Byrne wants you to know two things:

Byrne has been helping the “Men in Black” — that is, federal authorities — and was involved in the “missing Chapter 1” of the Trump-Russia probe.
Warren Buffett reminded him to alert Bill Barr and the press to point 1.
This story may sound fantastical, but it’s getting attention. Fox News has picked up on elements of the story, while an attorney for alleged Russian agent-of-influence Maria Butina sent a letter to Justice Department demanding a probe into Byrne’s accusations.

Meanwhile, in the two days since the Overstock CEO issued the statement, the company’s shares have plummeted more than 36 percent, amid a general selloff in the market. So what’s Byrne talking about? At first, it’s hard to say. Byrne, a financier of right-wing politicians, is avoiding specifics: His market-moving Monday statement is titled “Overstock CEO comments on Deep State, Withholds Further Comment.”

But in a statement to TPM, Byrne said he was “ethically obligated” to speak out. “Watching my country rip itself apart when I know the truth has been hard,” Byrne said. “It has reached the point where people are driving 600 miles to shoot 20 strangers. I decided that as a matter of conscience I had to tell the truth, let chips fall where they may.” His earlier remarks — and those of other bit players in the never-ending Trump-Russia saga — offer a few additional suggestions. In the statement, Byrne writes that Fox News contributor Sara Carter has written accurately about his situation on her blog, and that he is, in part, “confirming” what Carter had written.

Carter “broke” a story about Byrne last month that got some significant pickup in the conservative media. In that story, the Overstock CEO claimed to have had a fling with Butina, during which he discovered exculpatory evidence that would help Butina’s case, and that he accuses prosecutors of withholding. Byrne’s claims spurred Butina attorney Robert Driscoll to send an angry letter to John Durham, the former U.S. attorney empowered by Attorney General Bill Barr to lead a civil review of the origins of the FBI’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Driscoll also sent the letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who is conducting a separate probe into the FBI’s handling of Russiagate.

A DOJ spokeswoman declined to comment to TPM. But Byrne’s statements this week appear to reveal that he is under the impression that he is a main source for Durham. One hour before Overstock issued its press release, Carter published a story declaring that Byrne had upended the political establishment by giving “emails and text messages” to the Durham investigation. “This is going to become the greatest political scandal in U.S. history,” Byrne is quoted as saying in Carter’s story. The same day, Byrne took to Fox to declare that — as a result of the Durham inquiry — Barr is about to purge the country’s so-called “deep state.”

“There is a deep state like a submarine lurking just beneath the waves of the periscope depth watching our shipping lanes,” Byrne said on Fox Business on Monday. “And a nuclear icebreaker called the USS Bill Barr has snuck up on them and is about to ram midship.” Byrne’s actions may be surprising. His statements have knocked more than a third of the value off of his company, and he has so far failed to publicly provide any evidence corroborating or further fleshing out his claims.

But he has a storied history of bizarre statements. In 2005, he held an hour-long conference call blaming someone called the “Sith Lord” for financial problems at his company, and led a campaign to make short-selling illegal. Elsewhere, he has argued that the financial system faces impending doom, and that Bitcoin is the way out. But as a Marketwatch columnist Therese Poletti noted, this latest episode is weird even for Byrne. In any case, Byrne let the world know what he will be doing as the value of his company continues to tank following his comments and a general downturn in the stock market. “I plan on sitting back and watching the United States Department of Justice re-establish Rule of Law in our country,” he said in the conclusion to his Monday statement.

Overstock.com Inc. shares completed their worst two-day decline on record Wednesday, after Chief Executive Patrick Byrne claimed to have worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on a “political espionage” case involving Russia, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Overstock’s OSTK, +0.19% stock declined 22.4% Wednesday, the worst single-day percentage decline since 2014, after dropping 17.6% Tuesday. Combined, shares fell 41% in the two trading sessions, which FactSet data shows is the biggest drop since the online retailer went public in 2002.

Byrne was a guest Monday morning on Fox Business, and discussed recent articles that claimed he had a romantic relationship with Maria Butina, who has been convicted of being an unregistered foreign agent from Russia, at the behest of the FBI. He claimed to have collected evidence of a vast conspiracy involving the two 2016 candidates for the presidency, as well as other politicians, and turned it over to federal authorities.

For more: Overstock CEO spins an insane Russian-spy drama, with himself as the star

“I think we are about to see the biggest scandal in American history,” Byrne said in an interview with David Asman on Fox Business. “Everything you think you know about the Russia and Clinton investigations was a lie, it was all political espionage. I think [U.S. Attorney General William Barr] has gotten to the bottom of it.”

Byrne then issued an Overstock news release Monday evening titled “Overstock.com CEO Comments on Deep State, Withholds Further Comment,” in which he proclaimed that “I am the notorious ‘missing Chapter 1’ of the Russian investigation.”

Overstock shares have been on a roller-coaster ride over the past couple of years, hitting a high of around $84 in January 2018 before gradually sinking back to a low of around $9.50 this June. The stock had rebounded to around $25 earlier this month before the sharp decline this week.

The shares are now down 51.5% over the past 12 months, as the S&P 500 index SPX, -2.93% has gained 3%.

“Sara Carter has published two articles relating the following claims of mine:

Starting in 2015 I (operating under the belief that I was helping legitimate law enforcement efforts) assisted in what are now known as the ‘Clinton Investigation’ and the ‘Russian Investigation’ (in fact, I am the notorious ‘missing Chapter 1’ of the Russian investigation). It was the third time in my life I helped the Men in Black: the first was when my friend Brian Williams was murdered, and the second was when I helped the M.I.B. shake up Wall Street a decade ago. Unfortunately, this third time turned out to be less about law enforcement and more about political espionage conducted against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump (and to a lesser degree, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz).

In July 2018 I put the pieces together. I immediately (last July) came forward to a Congressman and a senior military officer, to the Department of Justice this April, and (upon my Omaha Rabbi reminding me of my duty as a citizen late this June) to a small set of journalists this summer. Ms. Carter was among them. Her two stories are accurate.

Having confirmed Ms. Carter’s two articles, I have fulfilled those citizenship obligations of which my Rabbi reminded me. I will speak no more on the subject. Instead, having lived in places lacking Rule of Law and having witnessed the consequences of its absence, I plan on sitting back and watching the United States Department of Justicere-establish Rule of Law in our country.”

About Overstock.com
Overstock.com, Inc Common Shares (NASDAQ:OSTK) / Digital Voting Series A-1 Preferred Stock (Medici Ventures’ tZERO platform:OSTKO) / Series B Preferred (OTCQX:OSTBP) is an online retailer and technology company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its leading e-commerce website sells a broad range of new products at low prices, including furniture, décor, rugs, bedding, home improvement, and more. The online shopping site, which is visited by nearly 40 million customers a month, also features a marketplace providing customers access to millions of products from third-party sellers. Overstock was the first major retailer to accept cryptocurrency in 2014, and in the same year founded Medici Ventures, its wholly-owned subsidiary developing and accelerating blockchain technologies to democratize capital, eliminate middlemen, and re-humanize commerce. Overstock regularly posts information about the company and other related matters on the Newsroom and Investor Relations pages on its website, Overstock.com.
O, Overstock.com, O.com, Club O, Main Street Revolution, and Worldstock are registered trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc. O.biz and Space Shift are also trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc. Other service marks, trademarks and trade names which may be referred to herein are the property of their respective owners.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include all statements other than statements of historical fact. Additional information regarding factors that could materially affect results and the accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained herein may be found in the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, which was filed with the SEC on August 8, 2019, and any subsequent filings with the SEC.

If what you already know about the FBI’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia has you wondering what can come next, “make sure you are sitting down because it’s about to get worse,” said Patrick Byrne, the philanthropist and CEO of the mega online retail chain Overstock.com.

Byrne revealed never published details about his intimate relationship with the Russian gun right’s activist and libertarian, Maria Butina, who is now serving out her sentence after pleading guilty in 2018 to working as a foreign agent in the U.S. without registering.

In an interview several weeks ago, Byrne recounted first meeting Butina at Freedom Fest 2015. He described the relationship that developed between the two and revealed that he had initiated contact in July, 2015 with the FBI after his first meeting with Butina. He also disclosed that he met twice with Justice Department attorneys in April, 2019 giving a total of seven hours of interviews on the separate occasions. A source directly familiar with the interviews, confirmed those meetings took place.

Butina’s lawyer, Robert Driscoll, also confirmed the relationship between Byrne and Butina. Driscoll stated that he also had relayed the information to the FBI and prosecutors earlier during his trial, and asked repeatedly about any Brady material -exculpatory information – that the bureau may have collected from Byrne on Butina, to no avail. The bureau denied it had any information regarding Byrne and Butina’s relationship, said Driscoll.
On Thursday, Driscoll sent a letter to United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General William Barr to investigate the FBI’s handling of the Russia investigation; Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who is conducting an investigation into the bureau’s origins of the Trump probe and Corey Amundson, with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

“In writing, the government denied the existence of any such Brady material,” Driscoll stated in his letter. “Orally, during debrief sessions with Maria, I directly told the government that I believed Patrick Byrne, Chief Executive of Overstock.com, who had a sporadic relationship with Maria over a period of years prior to her arrest, was a government informant. My speculation was flatly denied. My associate Alfred Carry made similar assertions in a separate debrief that he covered and was also rebuffed.”

“Mr. Byrne has now contacted me and has confirmed that he, indeed, had a ‘non-standard arrangement’ with the FBI for many years, and that beginning in 2015 through Maria’s arrest, he communicated and assisted government agents with their investigation of Maria. During this time, he stated he acted at the direction of the government and federal agents by, at their instruction, kindling a manipulative romantic relationship with her. He also told me that some of the details he provided the government regarding Maria in response was exculpatory—that is, he reported to the government that Maria’s behavior and interaction with him was inconsistent with her being a foreign agent and more likely an idealist and age-appropriate peace activist.”

The CEO of internet retailer Overstock resigned Thursday after comments he made recently about the "deep state" and helping the government investigate Russian election interference.

"In July I came forward to a small set of journalists regarding my involvement in certain government matters," Patrick Byrne said in a statement Thursday. "Doing so was not my first choice, but I was reminded of the damage done to our nation for three years and felt my duty as a citizen precluded me from staying silent any longer."
ADVERTISEMENT

“Thus, while I believe that I did what was necessary for the good of the country, for the good of the firm, I am in the sad position of having to sever ties with Overstock, both as CEO and board member, effective Thursday, August 22," he added.

The company's stock took a dive earlier this month after Byrne came out with a statement about what he referred to as the "deep state."

The CEO of internet retailer Overstock resigned Thursday after comments he made recently about the "deep state" and helping the government investigate Russian election interference.

"In July I came forward to a small set of journalists regarding my involvement in certain government matters," Patrick Byrne said in a statement Thursday. "Doing so was not my first choice, but I was reminded of the damage done to our nation for three years and felt my duty as a citizen precluded me from staying silent any longer."
ADVERTISEMENT

“Thus, while I believe that I did what was necessary for the good of the country, for the good of the firm, I am in the sad position of having to sever ties with Overstock, both as CEO and board member, effective Thursday, August 22," he added.

The company's stock took a dive earlier this month after Byrne came out with a statement about what he referred to as the "deep state."

Gosh, maybe he could get together with Papa Johns founder/former CEO John Schnatter and come up with a new business. Selling overstock pizzas to Derp Staters, or somethin' like that.

Wow Dolly, thanks! That interview is a must see, he's the full 22 minutes. It's wild -- can't believe they put him on Fox News.

This version has a transcript:

At one point Martha's phone chimes, probably with somebody asking WTF! He invokes going to see Warren Buffet who encourages him to speak out, right then I thought, wait, what?

At about 6 minutes in, Martha presses him again with what did the FBI ask you to do? And he said law enforcement was setting up blackmail on Hillary Clinton! What? They had to drop their coffee in the control room. The DEEP STATE was trying to hurt HRC sez Patrick.

He admitted to an affair with Butina for six months, and during that time he tried to "yenta her into senior foreign policy thinkers". But a minute earlier he said he met her at that Vegas Trump event (the one where she held the mic and basically asked Donald about the Maginsky Act) and after blowing her off about Florida gun issues, she said Moscow sent her. It's just nuts.

And that's just 9 minutes in! I'll watch the rest tomorrow, it's hilarious and scary and bizarre and it seems like it's not about Donald, it was about Hillary.

He was also on Fox Business. Considering the bloodbath Overstock.com shareholders went through, it's impossible to understand why he's doing this media. Wow. Didn't watch this yet.